Veneer handling machine



May 8, 1934.

G F. sTYRoN 1,957,621

VENEER HANDLING MACHINE Filed Aug. 19. 1931 4 sheetssheet 1 I T l( [4(inforum,

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VENEER HANDLING MACHINE Filed Aug. 19. 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 LummnnIDIEDIIIUUJUIUJEDW' Jg l '(55) 55 d La-1 mmml Patented May 8, 1934 STTESPATE OFFICE VENEER HANDLING MACHINE George Frank Styrcn, Goldsboro, N.C., assignor of forty per cent to Manley Guion Lee,

Goldsboro, N. C.

Application August 19, 1931, Serial No. 558,166

Claims.

lVly invention relates to the production of wood veneer. In producingwood veneer the logs are placed in a veneer lathe which cuts the logsinto continuous thin sheets or strips which, when 5 passed from themachine, are placed on a piling table by an attendant, while anotherattendent severs the strip into required lengths as it issues from thelathe. This makes necessary the einployment of at least two attendantson the out- 19 going side of the lathe.

My invention has for an object to provide a means, as an adjunct to thelathe, which will take the veneer as it issues from the lathe, convey ittherefrom to a stacking table, sever the continuous sheet into desiredlength and deposit those lengths one on top of another on the stackingtable from which the pile of sheets may be removed as desired.

Further, it is an object to provide an endless conveyor with suctioncups for lifting and conveying the veneer strips from the cutter to thestacking table.

Further, it is an object to provide means automatically to break thevacuum in the cups to release and drop the sheet at the proper place andtime.

Further, it is an object to provide an endless belt to hold the veneeras it comes from the lathe in a position to be acted upon by the vacuumcup conveyor, the belt having provisions to prevent action of the vacuumcups thereon, when no veneer strip is passing through the machine.

Further, it is an object of the invention to provide means, governed bythe movement of the veneer, for eecting operation of the cutter beforethe severed section is dropped onto the stacking table.

Other objects will in part be obvious and in part be pointed outhereinafter.

To the attainment of the aforesaid objects and ends, the invention stillfurther resides in the novel details of construction, combination andarrangement of parts, all of which will be rst fully described in thefollowing detailed description, then be particularly pointed out in theappended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating my invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of a portion thereof.

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail cross section on the line 3--3 of Figure2.

Figure 4 is an enlarged cross section on the line 4-4 of Figure 2. v

Figure 5 is a detail view of the telescoping receiving table showing howthe leaves are connected.

Figure 6 is a detail view largely diagrammatic of a modified receivingtable for use with low '60 machines.

Figure 7 is an enlarged detail view showing the manner of operating thecam shaft which releases the vacuum in the vacuum cups.

Figure 8 is a cross section on the line 8 8 of 65 Figure 7.

Figure 9 is a detail elevation of the end bearing of the cam shaftshowing the manner of maintaining proper position of said cam shaft.

Figure 10 is an end elevation of the parts shown in Figure 9.

Figure 11 is a detail view hereinafter referred to.

In the drawings, in which like numerals of reference indicate likenumerals in all the figures, 1 represents the lathe, 2 the veneer sheetissuing 75 from the lathe, 3 the frame of the receiving table and 4 thetelescopic receiving table top leaves.

Mounted in the main frame 5 and an auxiliary frame 6 are the shaftswhich carry the sprockets of the main conveyor and of the pump operatingdrum. Y

7 designates the drum shaft bearings in which the drum shaft 8 isjournalled, the drum shaft having sprockets 10 at the ends of the drum9. Adjustable bearings 11 are provided in which the shaft 12 of a beltroller is journalled. An endless belt takes over the belt roller on theshaft 12 and over the drum 9, as clearly shown in Figure 1. Mounted inthe sub-frame 6 (which subframe consists simply of a pair of supportsspaced a suitable distance apart) is an idler shaft 14 carryingsprockets l5 spaced a suitable distance apart.

There is another idler shaft 16 carried by adjustable bearings 17 in themain frame 6, which idler shaft 16 also has sprockets 18 correspondingto the sprockets 15 and 10. Endless chains 19 take over the sprockets 15and 18 and under the sprockets 10.

The endless chains 19 are cross-connected at intervals by slats 47,hereinafter again referred 100 to, and constitute an endless conveyor.

Bearings 20, 21, 22, are provided in the main frame 5 for the shafts ofthe perforated belt carrying rollers. This consists of a master roller23 and two idler or guide rollers 24 around which the perforated belt 25passes.

The purpose of perforating the belt 25 is to prevent the suction cupsfrom sticking to the apron when no veneer sheet is passing.

Bearings 26, 27, 28 are also provided in the frame 5 for the shafts ofthe rollers of the gangbelt conveyor. These rollers consist of themaster roller 29 and the auxiliary rollers 30 over which the gang ofnarrow belts 31 pass.

On the master roller 29, and passed between a pair of belts 31, is asprocket 32 around which, and a sprocket 35, takes the cutter drivingchain 33, the sprocket 35 being mounted on the cutter crank shaft 34.

The cutter includes a xed cutting table 36 having a furcated edge, thefingers of which pass between the gang of belts 31 so that they will notcatch the oncoming edge of the veneer strip and will prevent that stripfrom curling down between the cutting table 36 and the adjacent roller30.

The cutting mechanism further includes a vertically reciprocally mountedcutting blade 38 held in slide bearings 39 which are provided withcushioning springs 40 (see Figure 11). The cutting blade 38 isreciprocated by means of connecting rods 42 with the cranks 41 on thecrank shaft 34.

There is a clutch 43 on the crank shaft 34 cooperating with the drivingpulley on that shaft, the clutch being numbered 43 in the drawings. Itis shifted into clutching position by means of a clutch shifter rod andlever train 44, the vertical rod of which includes an abutment 45 tocooperate with the cutter operating cams 46 on the endless chains 19.

Each vacuum cup carrying slat 47 has a set of cylinders 48 in which arepistons 49 and which are covered by covers 50 having piston rod bearings51 for the piston rods 52, the latter having button heads 53. Thecylinder covers 50 are vented at 54 and piston return springs 55 areprovided in each cylinder between the pistons 49 and the heads of thecylinders. Extending from the cylinder is a tubular vacuum cup carrier56 on which is clamped at 58 a vacuum cup 57.

Each cylinder 48 is also provided with a relief vent 59 having a bracket6D to support the lever 62 that carries the relief valve 61 and isprovided with a heel 63 to cooperate with the cam fingers 68 on the camshafts 66 which are mounted in stationary cam shaft supports 65. Springs64 serve normally to hold the valve 61 seated to close the relief vents59.

The cam shafts 66 carry cam levers 69 which are actuated by cam trips 70mounted on certain of the slats 47.

Suitable tracks 71 are provided on which the supporting wheels orrollers 72 of the conveyor chain 19 may run at the lower and horizontalflight of the conveyor.

73a: indicate longitudinal side supporting beams connecting the frames 5and 6.

74 is a driving belt and pulley connection (or it may be sprocket andchain) between the shafts 8 and 26. 73 indicates a similar drivingconnection between the shaft 8 and the shaft 20, there being a drivingpulley 77 on the shaft 8 to which the driving power may be applied.

78 is the stacking table which is usually provided with a slattedconveyor 79 to assist in running off the stack of veneer sheets.

Instead of having the telescopic blade receiving top disclosed in Figure1, a modification of the receiving table may be used (see Figure 6) byreference to which it will be seen that there is provided a set ofstationary pulleys 80 and a set of sliding pulleys 81, there being agang of belts 82 passed over the pulleys in proper combinations,

there being also provided floating pulleys 83 which are connected to thesliding pulleys by driving sprockets and chains 84. Driving sprocketsand chains 85 connect the pulleys 89 with adjacent pulleys 8356 whiledriving sprockets and chains 86 connect pulleys 83x with the adjacentpulleys 83.

87 designates a stack of veneer sheets on the table 78.

The end brackets 65 each have a recess 88 to cooperate with a pin 89 onthe shaft 66 to limit the rotational movement of the shaft and in orderto maintain the proper position of the cam shaft 66 a torsion spring 76has one end 90 anchored to the shaft 66 and its other end 91 anchored tothe bearing in which the end of the shaft is mounted.

So far as described, the manner in which my invention operates is asfollows:

As the continuous length of veneer sheet comes from the lathe it passesonto the receiving table 4 and from thence onto the gang of belts 31which assist in passing the veneer strip through the cutting mechanismonto the perforated belt 25 beneath the endless vacuum cup chain and thedrum 10. As the slats carrying the vacuum cups pass downwardly from theleft hand end of the machine toward the drum the plungers 52 will beforced inwardly by engagement of the button heads 53 with the belt 13thereby forcing the pistons 49 toward the heads of the cylinders 48 andexpelling the air 'through 'the short pipe lengths 56. As the vacuumcups 57 come in Contact with the upper face of the veneer strip beneaththe roller 9 and pass out from under the roller the springs 55 will tendto force the pistons 49 outwardiy thereby creating suction in the vacuumcups 57 and causing them to stick to the veneer sheet so that as theveneer sheet passes olf of the belt 25 it will be suspended beneath theendless conveyor 19 on its lower horizontal fiight and carried to aposition over the stacking table. Just before the advance end of theveneer strip reaches the right hand end of the stacking table a cam 46on the conveyor 19 will engage the cam abutment 45 and actuate thecutting mechanism one stroke, thereby severing the advance portion ofthe veneer strip from the remainder. As soon as this severed portion hasadvanced to a position fully over the stacking table the cams 79 engagethe camming levers 69 and should rock the cam shafts 66 and cause thecam fingers 68 to depress the heel end of the levers 62 of all reliefvalves 61 of the Vacuum pumps which are active on the veneer strip andthereby relieve the vacuum within the pumps, causing the vacuum cups tolet go and drop the severed strip of veneer onto the stacking table,thus completing a cycle of operation of the machine. A

It is to be observed that the telescopic table top 135 4 extendsslightly over the receiving part of the gang of belts 31 so that theadvance edge of the veneer will not curl under.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, it is thought the complete construction,operation and advantages of the invention will be clear to those skilledin the art to which it appertains, and I desire it understood thatchanges in the details of construction and arrangement of parts may bemade without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope ofthe appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. An adjunct to veneer cutting lathes which comprises a receiving tableonto which the lathe 150 delivers a strip of veneer, an apron on whichthe strip is delivered, and suction means to lift the strip from theapron and convey it to and over a delivery place, and means to releasethe strip when over the delivery place.

2. An adjunct to veneer cutting lathes which comprises a receiving tableonto which the lathe delivers a strip of veneer, an apron on which thestrip is delivered, suction means to lift the strip from the apron andconvey it to and over a delivery place, means to release the strip whenover the delivery place, and means preventing said suction means fromtaking hold of said apron.

3. An adjunct to veneer cutting lathes which comprises a receiving tableonto which the lathe delivers a strip of veneer, an apron on which thestrip is delivered from the cutter, suction means to lift the strip fromthe apron and convey it to and over a delivery place, means to releasethe strip when over the delivery place, said apron being perforated forthe purposes specified.

4. In a veneer handling machine, a framework, an endless chain conveyorhaving a series 0I slats, pumps with vacuum cups actuated therebycarried by said slats, a trackway guiding said conveyor over adetermined part of its course, means delivering a strip of veneerbeneath said conveyor to be carried thereby along said trackway, meansto actuate said pumps for creating a vacuum in said cups to cause themto take hold of the veneer strip, and means to release the vacuum in thecups holding a strip at a predetermined place.

5. In a veneer handling machine, a framework, an endless chain conveyorhaving a series of slats, pumps with vacuum cups actuated therebycarried by said slats, a trackway guiding said coneyor over a determinedpart of its course, means delivering a strip of veneer beneath saidconveyor to be carried thereby along said trackway, means to actuatesaid pumps for creating a vacuum in said cups to cause them to take holdoi the veneer strip, means to release the vacuum in the cups holding astrip at a predetermined place, each of said pumps comprising a cylinderand a piston, said pump actuating means including a roller device topress said piston inwardly to expel air from the cylinders and cups, anda return spring in each cylinder for operating its piston to causesuction in the cups.

6. In a veneer handling machine, a lframework, an endless chain conveyorhaving a series of slats, pumps with vacuum cups actuated therebycarried by said slats, a trackway guiding said conveyor over adetermined part of its course, means delivering a strip of veneerbeneath said conveyor to be carried thereby along said trackway, meansto actuate said pumps for creating a vacuum in said cups to cause themto take hold of the veneer strip, means to release the vacuum in thecups holding a strip at a predetermined place, each of said pumpscomprising a cylinder and a piston, said pump actuating means includinga roller device to press said piston inwardly to expel air from thecylinders and cups, a return spring in each cylinder for operating itspiston to cause suction in the cups, and said vacuum relieving meansincluding a relief valve for each pump cylinder, a cam mechanism foropening all of said relief valves of the active cups holding a severedstrip.

7. An endless conveyor to receive veneer strips from a lathe and conveysame to a place for delivery, said conveyor including vacuum cupsbeneath which the veneer strip is delivered and by which the veneerstrips are held to the conveyor in transit, means for breaking thevacuum in the cups and causing them to let go of the strips at the placeof delivery, and means activating the vacuum cups prior to theirengaging with the veneer strips.

8. An endless conveyor to receive the veneer strips from a lathe andconvey same to a place for delivery, said conveyor including vacuum cupsbeneath which the veneer strips are delivered and by which the veneerstrips are held to the conveyor in transit, means for breaking thevacuum in the cups and causing them to let go of the strips at the placeof delivery, means activating the vacuum cups prior to their engagingwith the veneer strips, said activating means comprising cylinders,pistons and piston springs for expelling air from the cups and creatinga negative pressure therein.

9. An endless conveyor to receive veneer strips from a lathe and conveysame to a place for delivery, said conveyor including vacuum cupsbaneath which the veneer strips are delivered and by which the veneerstrips are held to the conveyor in transit, means for breaking thevacuum in the cups and causing them to let go of the strips at the piaceof delivery, and means activating the vacuum cups prior to theirengaging with the veneer strips.

l0. An endless conveyor to receive veneer strips from a lathe and conveysame to a place for delivery, said conveyor including vacuum cupsbeneath which the veneer strips are delivered and by which the veneerstrips are held to the conveyor in transit, means for breaking thevacuum in the cups and causing them to let go of the strips at the placeof delivery, means activating the vacuum cups prior to their engagingwith the veneer strips, said activating means comprising cylinders,pistons and piston springs for expelling air from the cups and creatinga negative pressure therein.

GEORGE FRANK STYRON.

